BCHC Newsletter | September 2013

THE NEWS

Announcement Phase Two of the Healthy Communities Capacity Fund

The Hon. Terry Lake, B.C. Minister of Health with
BCHC staff, Kerri Klein and Krissi Spinoza at the
Union of BC Municipalities Convention in Vancouver. 

As part of BCHC’s commitment to support leadership for healthier communities, we’re pleased to partner with the Government of British Columbia to launch phase two of the Healthy Communities Capacity Building Fund on November 26. This phase provides $375,000 for eligible local governments to develop local policies and actions to help residents lead healthier lives.

The Healthy Communities Capacity Fund was first announced in March 2013, with initial funding of $200,000. Due to the popularity of the program and quality of applications, that amount was increased to $275,000. The total funding for both phases one and two of the Healthy Community Capacity Building Fund is $650,000. 

Application forms and criteria for phase two will be available on our new PlanH website on November 26, 2013.

The PlanH Program
Supporting Capacity Building for Local Governments

Here at BCHC, we’re busy working toward the October launch of a new program which supports local governments to build leadership capacity to address health and well-being locally through planning, policy, and partnerships. 

The PlanH program, offered by BCHC in partnership with Healthy Families BC, supports local government engagement and partnerships across sectors for creating healthier communities and provides learning opportunities, resources, and leading-edge practices for collaborative local action.

Please head over to the interim PlanH website, where you can subscribe to be the first to hear about the site launch, the Healthy Community Capacity Building fund, and more. 

Achieve Savings, Increase Tenant Satisfaction

BC Housing and BCHC are excited to present a 1.5 hour webinar describing how to engage tenants in energy conservation and reduce the environmental footprint of your operations. Learn how to involve tenants, increase tenant satisfaction, save time and achieve savings. This session will take place on October 2, 10:00 - 11.30 AM (PST). This session is hosted by BCNPHA in partnership with BC Housing and BC Healthy Communities. 

This learning event will build your capacity to:

• Enhance Tenant Satisfaction and reduce conflict by using tested and easily implemented tools and resources.
• Increase Awareness of energy savings tips and strategies to deliver your cost savings and reduce your operational costs.
• Implement a step-by-step plan that helps you save time.

Who should attend: Non-profit housing building managers and support staff. Cost: $15 plus GST for BCNPHA Members; $30 plus GST for non-members. To register click here.

THE COMMUNITY

Creative Community engagement through Neighbourhood “Living Rooms”

Photo credit: Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria,
Building Resilient Neighbourhoods Project

This summer, BCHC continued collaborating with the Greater Victoria Social Planning Council and Transition Victoria’s Building Resilient Neighbourhoods project.  Here in the Capital region, the Resilient Neighbourhoods team has been busy setting up neighbourhood “living rooms” in Victoria West, which was selected earlier this year as a Resilient Neighbourhood demonstration site. Using an approach of “going to the people”, pop-up neighbourhood living rooms have been set up in public spaces such as parks, local cafes, shopping centres, and festivals. Breaking out from more traditional survey approaches, these sets provide an informal setting for the team to have conversations with residents about opportunities to connect with their neighbours and make Vic West more vibrant and resilient. 

For more information about Building Resilient Neighbourhoods, please contact Stacy Barter mail to: info@buildingresilientneighbourhoods.ca

THE CHAMPION

Aysia Law: City of Victoria Youth Poet Laureate

So far, this year has been a crazy whirlwind of awesome. Being Youth Poet Laureate has been a fantastic opportunity to network and get some experience organizing and coordinating events, and I’ve met and worked with a lot of people I quite likely would never have even thought to connect with otherwise. I’m not sure I realized how important my community was to me before I had a chance to really do some work in and for it. 

My big event this year was Victoria’s first Diversity Slam. I believe that diversity goes beyond basic tolerance, or even acceptance. To me, diversity is the understanding that everyone has a story, has more to them than it might seem. It’s not the belief that everyone should be treated the same, but that everyone should be treated as equals – and there is a difference. We need to hear all the stories, not just the ones we think are important.

To this end, we had our first installation of the Diversity Slam on August 19th, and the energy and support and empathy in the room was actually palpable. Not to buzz my own French horn, but it was probably one of the coolest events I’ve ever had the pleasure of taking part in. It turned out far better than I ever hoped: I was honestly terrified no one would show up. As it happened, though, we had a room full of over a hundred people and everyone arrived ready to listen respectfully and be a supportive audience in every way possible. 

I’m really hoping that I can find a sustainable venue and partners, and keep this running as a quarterly event, even past my term as Youth Poet Laureate. We had a majority of new speakers, and even had to open some extra spots; and I think that holding the space to invite more people into the spoken word community and hear what so many different people have to say is both magical and extremely important. I hold the YPL position until December this year, so here’s hoping that we can pull off such a mind-blowing night again in November.

I’m hoping this event will continue to serve as an open forum for respectful discussion around diversity in our community – with a focus on what we see happening, and what we need to be more inclusive in our community. Victoria is a great city, and I’m really glad I moved here; but there’s always room for improvement, and I think the nudge (and the words) needs to come from the people who see the changes needed.

Click here to watch Aysia live in action at the Diversity Slam. 

THE ARTICLE

Letter From Outside: BC Youth Are Getting Out There

By Ellyn Davidson
Get Outside BC | Vancouver Island Regional Coordinator 

In a society that places so much emphasis on the indoors and on engaging with technology, it can be difficult to convince youth to spend quality time outside.  Between those distractions, household chores, school, and part time jobs, youth are finding it more difficult to get into nature, according to a 2012 report by the David Suzuki Foundation.

However, The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and its partners are combatting this trend with the Get Outside BC project. This project brings together youth from all over B.C., and challenges them to create events that simply get their peers outside. Its purpose is “to connect youth to the outdoors in a meaningful and sustainable way, by giving them a sense of purpose and the capacity to inspire others to spend more time in the outdoors”. 

Participating youth come from six regions across B.C. Once selected through an application process, participants meet in Squamish for a weeklong summit in July. They learn the ins-and-outs of green careers, communications, media training, and leadership. As you may guess, they also spend a lot of time outside (many of the Van Island crew cited learning stand-up paddle boarding as one of the best things about the summit). They are then released back to their respective regions to spread the love of being outside. 

Each youth is responsible for organizing and facilitating their own event, with the main criteria being that the event gets people outside. This is no small task for the youth, as this year they are instructed to not only run the event, but also to write a press release to get media attention, and encouraged to come up with a budget to engage sponsors. 

This year, there are six amazing youth who hail from the Vancouver Island region. All range in age, and each have their own diverse interests (one could probably recite all of the local bird species in the region while another is fascinated by the ocean). These youth have plans to complete all kinds of projects, from beach clean ups to a community gardening program, to a family scavenger hunt. We meet monthly as a group, conference calling in our north island team members, and share what everyone is planning. The best part of the project is the amazing passion and leadership that resonates through each of the youth. I am excited to see how the year unfolds for them.

Of course, the Vancouver Island team could not function without the support from BC Healthy Communities Society. They provide the space for the group to meet, and provide coordination for the group by supporting the position of regional coordinator (that’s me!) 

If you have any questions about the project or about the events that are being put on by the Vancouver Island youth, feel free to email me at ellyn@bchealthycommunities.ca 

For information about how to donate to the Get Outside BC Project, go here. 

THE PRACTICE  

Applications open for Social Innovation Project Grants

The City of Vancouver’s Social Innovation Project Grants are a multi-year opportunity that will help organizations address social issues in Vancouver. This year selected projects may receive up to $25,000 per year for up to two years. These grants are the result of an increase to Social Policy’s grant portfolio made by Vancouver City Council in 2013.

Funding will support:

• Pilot projects
• Applying new or different methods to existing programs
• Scaling up an existing service
• Collaborating with other organizations in a new way, and
• Improving the delivery of services (through improved administration or technology).

Applications are available now, and are due by 4:30pm, Friday, October 11, 2013.
For more information about the grant, including eligibility criteria, decision making criteria, and how to apply, go here. 

THE EVENTS

Coming up this fall

Webinar: Achieve Savings, Increase Tenant Satisfaction

Where: online
When: October 2nd, 10:00-11:30 am PST
What: BC Housing and BC Healthy Communities are excited to present a 1.5 hour webinar describing how to engage tenants in energy conservation and reduce the environmental footprint of your operations. Learn how to involve tenants, increase tenant satisfaction, save time and achieve savings. This session is hosted by BCNPHA in partnership with BC Housing and BC Healthy Communities. For more information or to register click here.

Webinar for Local Governments: Leading Healthy Communities: Local Government Action on Community Health &Well-being
Where: online
When: October 16th, 10:00-11:30 am PST
What: Join our panel of leading local government experts for this unique online learning and dialogue opportunity to explore how local governments are leading the way to create conditions that support healthier people and places. This webinar also includes an introduction to the new PlanH program, which supports local government engagement and partnerships across sectors for creating healthier communities, and provides learning opportunities, resources, and leading-edge practices for collaborative local action. This webinar is designed for local government staff and elected officials, and members of local government Healthy Communities Advisory Committees. To register, go here. 

Conference: Regional PHABC Conference and Ministry of Health half-day session 
Where: Hilton Vancouver Metrotown, Burnaby, BC
When: November 4-6, 2013
What: “Health in all Policies: Taking Intersectoral Action for Equitable & Sustainable Health” and Emerging Public Health Priorities” with the Ministry of Health. Plenary Two on Intersectoral Action in the Community & Social Innovation on Monday, Nov 4 will include a presentation by BCHC’s Executive Director, Jodi Mucha. For more information visit the PHABC website here.

Building SustainAble Communities Conference

Where: Kelowna
When: November 25-28, 2013
What: This year's event features a half-day workshop hosted by BC Healthy Communities on Building Healthy Communities Through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships. For information check out the conference website here.

THE READ

Workshop summary report now available
Addressing Inequities at the Intersection of Health &Climate Change

BCHC partnered with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), Vancouver Coastal Health, and SFU Faculty for Health Sciences to co‐organize a workshop on ‘addressing inequities at the intersection of health and climate change’ last February. Participants explored ways to find common ground between the research and policy agendas of climate change and health in order to decrease greenhouse gases, while improving health outcomes for those populations that are most at risk. 

The workshop was funded by a development grant from the Vancouver Foundation, and was facilitated by BCHC Program Manager, Kerri Klein and community planning consultant Heather Evans. 

Get the full report here 

BCHC Newsletter | Summer 2013

THE NEWS

BCHC goes to summer school with PHABC

BCHC joined health promotion practitioners, planners, faculty and students at PHABC’s annual summer school, July 23 – 26 at the University of Victoria.

We delivered a session about the tools, resources, and funding available to support age-friendly communities, the Trust Us initiative, and the Age-Friendly Communities Recognition Award at the Recreation and Health: A BC Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA) and PHABC Collaborative Workshop.

Check out the related presentations, and tools and resources for recreation and health collaboration.

THE COMMUNITY 

City of Victoria Youth Council project

Bike-powered gallery showcases youth art 

A bike-powered, mobile art gallery is about to transform Victoria’s streets and bikeways into a massive exhibition space.

Featuring works by artists under 25 years old, the PedalBox Gallery offers youth an innovate platform for exhibiting their art, while demonstrating the artistic and environmental potential of a bike-powered gallery.

The PedalBox Gallery will make its debut at the Integrate Arts Crawl’s ‘Play on Words Book Fair’ at the Greater Victoria Public Library Central Branch on Saturday, August 24, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm.

The PedalBox Gallery is accepting applications from artists under the age of 25 to exhibit works of visual art, film, performance and literature. Successful applicants will receive support from the PedalBox team and a $125 budget to bring the project to life – and a unique opportunity to be a part of an artistic conversation about the environment.

For more information about the PedalBox Gallery, or to apply to exhibit, please contact pedalbox@cvyc.net,pedalbox@cvyc.net or connect on Facebook.


New video

Bridging the gap between teens and seniors 

The Trust Us initiative fosters friendlier, safer communities where teens and seniors can learn from each other. This year, a group of teens and seniors came together to create intergenerational connections in the Gorge Tillicum neighbourhood.

Here’s their story.

 

THE ARTICLE

Planning for Healthy Aging: New resource on SeniorsBC

By Eve Millar, Project Management Analyst  - Seniors' Directorate

How do you see your future? Do you sometimes dream about what you’ll be doing when you’re older? Do imagine yourself travelling, spending time with friends or grandchildren, or enjoying your favourite past times? Have you thought about the steps you need to take to get there, and what you can do now to remain healthy and active?

Many British Columbians are saving for retirement, but they aren’t considering additional ways they could be planning to enjoy a healthy, active older age. Some experts believe that investing in your social circle is the most important contribution you could make to enjoy a healthy life as you get older; others say that you can’t separate health, including your social connections, from your housing, finances or transportation.

Planning for healthy aging involves looking at the various facets of your life and considering the steps to take now to have the best life later.

The Ministry of Health has created Planning for Healthy Aging, a new section on SeniorsBC.ca that covers a range of topics and includes worksheets and questions to consider when planning for your future. It also has links to additional materials to help you plan - such as tips on how to avoid falls, a Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook, My Voice, a guide to advance care planning, and the Age-friendly BC initiative.

The webpages highlight the importance of continuous learning, the value of volunteer work, and the health benefits of both walking and engaging in your community to shape it into a place where you would want to grow old.

How do you see your future? Do you sometimes dream about what you’ll be doing when you’re older? Do imagine yourself travelling, spending time with friends or grandchildren, or enjoying your favourite past times? Have you thought about the steps you need to take to get there, and what you can do now to remain healthy and active?

Many British Columbians are saving for retirement, but they aren’t considering additional ways they could be planning to enjoy a healthy, active older age. Some experts believe that investing in your social circle is the most important contribution you could make to enjoy a healthy life as you get older; others say that you can’t separate health, including your social connections, from your housing, finances or transportation.

Planning for healthy aging involves looking at the various facets of your life and considering the steps to take now to have the best life later.

The Ministry of Health has created Planning for Healthy Aging, a new section on SeniorsBC.ca that covers a range of topics and includes worksheets and questions to consider when planning for your future. It also has links to additional materials to help you plan - such as tips on how to avoid falls, a Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook, My Voice, a guide to advance care planning, and the Age-friendly BC initiative. The webpages highlight the importance of continuous learning, the value of volunteer work, and the health benefits of both walking and engaging in your community to shape it into a place where you would want to grow old.

This new resource on SeniorsBC has been created to support you to plan and prepare for changes that may occur with age, to help you better cope with those changes, and to prevent the stress and associated health impacts of dealing with change in a crisis situation.

Please contact Eve Millar at if you have any questions or feedback about the material posted. The webpages are a work in progress and Eve would love to hear about your suggestions for improvement.

THE CHAMPION

River Chandler, Artistic Director, TheatreWorks

River founded TheatreWorks in 2004, bringing her theatre training and experience, her social work skills and her passion for social justice together to use theatre to work for community dialogue, empowerment, and change. In addition to her formal theatre background, River trained in Theatre for Living with Headlines Theatre, Vancouver, and partnered with the company in their national project Gimme the Keys: theatre about drinking, drugs and driving. Theatre for Living grew out of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, and is a worldwide leading example of theatre for social change; theatre for dialogue creation and conflict resolution; and theatre for community healing and empowerment.

Based in Victoria, River facilitates projects around the province, including workshops, conference keynotes, and audience-interactive productions to engage communities in creative dialogues through the medium of theatre. River works with schools, post-secondary institutions and not-for-profit organizations, and is honoured, as a white settler, to work with First Nations communities and education programs with First Nations and Aboriginal youth and adults. Previous projects addressed issues such as bullying, racism, substance use, protecting the coastline, and community inclusion.

Upcoming projects include workshops at the Victoria YM-YWCA conference Power of Being a Girl in October 2013, and partnering with community organizations to host two Victoria performances of the BC/Alberta tour of Corporations in our Heads, a theatre project that investigates how the messages from corporations have colonized our individual and collective psyche and affect our relationships with each other, with ourselves, and with the planet in profound ways.

THE PRACTICE

Policy school for change makers: Advancing healthy public policy

by Kerri Klein

I’m BCHC’s Program Manager and Facilitator, and I was lucky to participate in this year’s United Way Public Policy Institute. This six-month leadership training program supports the non-profit sector’s capacity to advance social change that leads to healthy, caring and inclusive communities. Offered by the United Way of the Lower Mainland, the program’s innovative cohort model allows a small group of leaders to convene for two days every month.

We learned about how public policy is shaped and influenced, explored case studies on salient social issues, and applied learning to our own public policy projects. This training is designed to help non-profit leaders and their organizations increase their knowledge of the public policy process and their capacity to influence it.

The program objectives are:
•    To enhance non-profit sector organizations’ understanding of how governments make policy decisions;
•    To provide participants with training to help strengthen their organization’s capacity to advance public policy positions of strategic interest to them; and
•    To help non-profit organizations ready themselves to carry out a public policy project by working through key elements (e.g., evidence base, policy options, stakeholder & decision-maker engagement, implementation, monitoring & evaluation, etc.)

‘Healthy public policy’ is one of the cornerstones of the healthy communities approach. Public policy is a reflection of our collective commitment to shape a desired future.  It’s the compass that guides governance decisions in a democracy. As a result, public policy has a significant impact on the salient issues communities face such as poverty, chronic disease and obesity, climate change, and food security.

I was impressed by the curriculum, but surprised at the complexity of the public policy process. The training covered the basics (e.g. the roles of evidence in the public policy process), but also addressed the nuances of how policy options are developed and analyzed, how to (successfully) engage decision-makers with a policy proposal, and how to evaluate results if your policy project is implemented.

The program faculty are outstanding, and there is no doubt their ability to speak from direct experience provides rare insights from multiple perspectives—provincially elected officials, government bureaucrats, philanthropic foundations and non-profit leaders. Led by the Honourable Mike Harcourt, former premier of British Columbia, the faculty bring a wealth of real-life public policy experience, including useful (and sometimes entertaining!) anecdotes and stories from which we can extrapolate lessons learned.

Learn more about the United Way Public Policy Institute and apply for the 2014 program by October 11 here.


BC Community Health Atlas

Interactive mapping tool for local-level community health planning now live

The Provincial Health Services Authority’s new interactive mapping tool displays population health indicators by local health area or school district. Developed by PHSA in partnership with the BC Ministry of Health, Vancouver Island Health Authority, BC Stats and DataBC, the BC Community Health Atlas allows users to easily create customizable geographic maps that visualize and compare patterns in health indicators by local health area or by school district.

Find it here.  Send questions or comments to pph@phsa.ca.

THE EVENTS

See you there

Tools, Resources & Funding: pre-convention study session

Where: Union of BC Municipalities Convention 2013
When: September 16, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
What: We’re looking forward to meeting UBCM delegates at this half-day, face-to-face, marketplace-style session to share information about the tools, resources, and funding opportunities available for local governments.
Along with other agencies, we’ll be on hand to talk about how local governments can increase capacity and undertake local planning, projects, and development.

Much more than swag

UBCM Convention Trade Show

Where: Vancouver Convention Centre, UBCM Convention
When: September 18 & 19, 2013
What: Local government folks, please visit us at the UBCM Convention Trade show to put faces to names and to catch up with our programs, partnerships, and new funding opportunities.

Coming up this fall

Building SustainAble Communities Conference

Where: Kelowna
When: November 25-28, 2013
What: This year's event features a half-day workshop hosted by BC Healthy Communities on Building Healthy Communities Through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships. For information check out the conference website.

Art on the move

PedalBox Gallery gets rolling

When: Saturday, August 24th, 1:00 to 5:00 pm
Where: Greater Victoria Public Library Central Branch Courtyard
What: PedalBox Gallery Launch at the Integrate Arts Crawl’s Play on Words Book Fair

THE READ

New Canadian Medical Association report on what makes us sick

The CMA’s Health Care in Canada: What Makes us Sick (July, 2013) reports on Canadians’ views of the social determinants of health. In a series of town-hall meetings and online consultations, Canadians identified poverty as the underlying theme behind factors that cause people to suffer poor health.

"As a country we can do better in tackling issues around poverty, housing, early childhood development, food security and culture that can hinder a person’s chances to be healthy. There is no one sector responsible for making this happen. It has to be a joint effort, involving health care providers, governments, patients and Canadians from all backgrounds," said Dr. Anna Reid, CMA president.

Get the the full report here.

BCHC Newsletter - June 2013

THE NEWS

Webinar recording now available:

Guess Who’s Coming to Town: Health Impacts of Work Camps in Close Proximity to Communities

In 2012 -2013, BCHC and Northern Health hosted four Citizens Series webinars. These two-hour sessions invited dialogue from northern communities on topics critical to improving health outcomes of northern people. The last webinar in this series, Guess Who’s Coming to Town: Health Impacts of Work Camps in Close Proximity to Communities, received a lot of attention, as the health and social impacts of industrial camps are of great concern to various groups in the north. The speakers, Greg Halseth from the University of Northern BC, Ron Poole from the District of Kitimat, and Connie Kaweesi from the Northern Light College, addressed challenges, opportunities and proactive approaches to community planning around these issues.

The webinar recording and presentations are available here. 

For more information about the Citizen Webinar Series, please contact Stacy Barter at stacy@bchealthycommunities.ca. To stay informed about the next upcoming Citizen Series please subscribe to our monthly newsletter here.

Welcome Jean!

We are very pleased to welcome Jean Macgregor to the BC Healthy Communities team as our Communications Specialist. Jean joins BCHC with over ten years’ experience in communications project management and expertise ranging from graphic design to strategic communications planning. With a background in the printing industry, post-secondary and not-for-profit sectors, Jean specializes in synthesizing multiple project elements and the needs of clients to forge campaigns, publications, and digital media. Jean holds an MA Professional Communication from Royal Roads University. You can reach Jean at: jean@bchealthycommunities.ca

THE COMMUNITY

Active Young Minds

By Kluane Buser-Rivet

What do you get when you put together a fantastic group of 25 youth chosen from 40 applicants, one coordinator, and 17 events and projects? The City of Victoria Youth Council 2012-2013 team!

With over 300 event and project participants, and over 3,000 Victoria youth reached, we’ve had an incredible year of championing youth voices and initiating change in the Victoria community!

One big change for the 2012-2013 team was a brand new governance structure that divided Youth Council members into five focused thematic Ministries: Art, Justice, Environment, Politics and Health, with a Media Team to support them.

• The Ministry of Art created Canada’s first Youth Poet Laureate position, an exciting innovation! 
• As well as three local park clean ups, the Ministry of Environment initiated the PedalBox Gallery, Victoria’s first mobile bike cart art gallery.
• The Ministry of Politics hosted a youth-led political forum in the weeks before the provincial election that was attended by well over 100 people.
• The Ministry of Health encouraged Victoria youth to enjoy the outdoors with Active Hope and to cook healthy, frugal meals on The Unsupervised Kitchen, a youth food blog.
• Ministry of Justice highlights include the production of a Monologue to your 12 Year Old Self video, and a middle and high school LGBTQ awareness poster campaign.
• Our Media Team has been working on a website re-design, the launch of our Twitter account, and has appeared on CFAX and CBC Radio shows ten times. 

A few projects on our horizon include Art Jam nights during the summer, the initiation of a youth caucus advising City Council, and a youth focused Bike Fest in the fall!

The Youth Council would like to send out a big thank you to everyone who has supported us in the past year, and especially to the City of Victoria for funding us, and BC Healthy Communities for being excellent hosts!

We envision a vibrant and inclusive city where youth voices are heard and valued, and we feel that we’ve made great strides towards that vision this year!

For any questions or comments, contact Kluane Buser-Rivet, City of Victoria Youth Council Coordinator at info@cvyc.net.

Follow us on Twitter @vicyouthcouncil, and on Facebook.

THE CHAMPION

Tessa Owens

Tessa is a student in Grade 10 at St. Michael’s University School in Victoria. Numerous documentaries, workshops and presentations have helped Tessa realize the importance and serious implications of climate change. Her mother, born in rural Tibet, instilled Tessa’s connection with the natural environment from an early age. During Tessa’s two visits to this region, she witnessed first-hand how closely the lives of people in rural communities are interlinked with the health of the surrounding ecosystems. She also spent a summer vacation living with orphaned Tibetan refugees in Dharmsala, India.

This past summer, Tessa had the rare opportunity to attend the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She travelled there as a media team member of We Canada—an organization that gathered input related to happiness in the context of sustainability from people across Canada. We Canada travelled to Rio with the goal of influencing policy decisions for Canada and on the international stage. She came away from the conference understanding that the solutions to critical issues like climate change, ocean acidification, and deforestation cannot be achieved by governments alone. They require the energy, motivation, creativity and inspiration of everyone. She is working to do her part.

Recently, Tessa was a member of the core planning team for the Creatively United for the Planet Festival. As part of an evening event at the festival, Tessa was one of eight speakers who presented at a TED-style panel, which included Dr. Andrew Weaver and Kate Moran, the latter of whom was once an advisor to the Obama administration on the topic of ocean policy. At the festival, Tessa co-facilitated a youth political forum, which featured candidates in the BC election. As part of a separate endeavor, Tessa has been selected as one of 70 youth to travel on a Students on Ice expedition to Antarctica.

THE ARTICLE

TRUST US: Total Respect Uniting Seniors and Teens

By Jodi Mucha

TRUST US project participants gathered on May 31 to celebrate all of their exciting accomplishments in Gorge Tillicum, and to build on their enthusiasm for the continued momentum of this community initiative.

TRUST US is an intergenerational project designed to bridge the gap between seniors and youth in the Gorge-Tillicum area. TRUST US was designed to create space and time for seniors and youth to engage in meaningful exchanges that would result in collaborative projects that foster understanding, respect, trust and potential creation of an intergenerational advisory committee to help other neighbourhoods replicate the same process.

As a result of six months’ work together, the TRUST US team have many successes to celebrate including:

• Developed an identity for the project, and changed the name from “ Trust Me” to “TRUST US”. To that end, the seniors and youth developed a logo and the acronym tagline: Total Respect Uniting Seniors and Teens.
• TRUST US communications pieces include: a complement of three videos (4 min, 14 min & 20 min), a tip card, and a public presentation poster.
• Featured at the Emerging Research Across the Lifespan event presented by UVic researchers from the Centre for Early Childhood, Centre for Youth and Society, and Centre on Aging
• Ten Steps to Foster Intergenerational Communities: A rack card was developed by the team, and is on display across Greater Victoria and elsewhere on Vancouver Island. Saanich Recreation facilities and many other senior-focused organizations have also made this information available.
• An Intergenerational Community Garden Guide was developed by the team and was adopted by the Gorge Tillicum Neighbourhood Association. This garden guide has also been distributed through the Eldercare Foundation, BC Healthy Communities, and the District of Saanich to other neighbourhood associations, municipalities, organizations for consideration in age-friendly community garden development planning.
• In partnership with Saanich Pulling Together volunteers, the Gorge Tillicum Neighbourhood Association, and Saanich Parks & Recreation, the TRUST US team organized an intergenerational community invasive week pull event in Gorge Waterway Park on April 20, 2013. Over 60 people attended (aged 2 to 82) to participate in this community work project. The event also included a TRUST US presentation and display, and an official presentation of the TRUST US Garden Guide to the Neighbourhood Association and the District of Saanich. Saanich also displayed their proposed plans for the new Gorge/Tillicum Community Garden. 

TRUST US is an intergenerational project partnership between the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation, Saanich Parks and Recreation, VIHA Yakimovich Wellness Centre, and BC Healthy Communities Society. The initial project was funded in part by New Horizons for Seniors Program. Find Trust Us on facebook

For more information on the opportunity to bring TRUST US to your community please contact: Jodi@bchealthycommunities.ca

EVENTS

Conference ~ Building SustainAble Communities

Where: Kelowna
When: November 25-28, 2013
What: This year's event features a half-day workshop hosted by BC Healthy Communities, entitled Building Healthy Communities Through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships. For information visit the conference website here.  

THE READ

‪Rediscovering the Wealth of Places: A municipal cultural planning handbook for Canadian communities
Published by Municipal World, Inc.

By Greg Baeker 

Recognizing the new economic realities facing them, a growing number of municipalities across Canada are turning to municipal cultural planning as a powerful tool to support economic development and community building. These represent municipalities of all sizes and circumstances – from large urban centres to mid-size cities to rural areas and small towns. Rediscovering the Wealth of Places is a practical introduction to core planning concepts and tools. This includes a methodology for cultural mapping and the systematic identification of a wide range of local cultural assets. A strong focus is placed on the effective integration of culture in planning across municipal departments, and with a look at some leading practices from Canada and around the world. This important work includes chapters from Elena Bird, David T. Brown, Susan M. Gardner, Jeannette Hanna, Gord Hume, Jennifer Keesmaat, Mark Kuznicki, Colin Mercer, and Kevin Stolarick.

Source: Municipal World

BCHC Newsletter - May 2013

THE NEWS

New Report Release: “Strengthening Neighbourhood Resilience: Opportunities for Communities and Local Governments”

Through our partnership with Fraser Basin Council’s Smart Planning for Communities program, The Building Resilient Neighbourhoods Project has just released a final report covering some of the research and lessons learned from the first phase of the project. Click here to read the full report and learn more about strengthening neighbourhood resilience.

New Partnership with the District of Mission through the "Active Seniors Project"

The Mission Seniors Centre Association in partnership with the District of Mission Parks, Recreation & Culture Department has secured funding through the UBCM Age-friendly Community Planning and Project Grants Program to develop a framework for volunteer management and recreation programming for seniors through the Mission Seniors Centre Association. 

As part of this project the District of Missions selected BC Healthy Communities as the successful candidate to take the lead on the “Active Seniors Project”. The main purpose of this project is to develop volunteer and senior friendly policies, procedures and tools to support senior recreation programming and volunteer administration. To learn more about this project please contact bchc@bchealthycommunities.ca

THE COMMUNITY

Tenant Engagement: Community Mapping for BC Housing in Victoria

Source: BC Housing Information Update

BCHC has worked with BC Housing in the past on the Livegreen Tenant Engagement on Sustainability focusing on Energy Conservation. BCHC facilitated the pilot project for the initiative and conducted workshops for the new facilitators that are engaging social housing tenants based on the model developed during the pilot.

Most recently BCHC facilitated three mapping sessions in Victoria. Tenants now have access to community maps that point them in the direction of a number of nearby resources including affordable food, health clinics and pharmacies, recreational services, transit options, and nature places. Large maps have been installed in the lobbies Hampton House and Battin Fielding, and Middle House at Evergreen Terrace. Through this community engagement process tenants were able to work together with their neighbours, talk about their community strengths and address concerns around issues such as safety.  All current and future tenants are provided with a brochure-size map specific to their site.

BCHC offers in-depth knowledge of strategies for community development and energy conservation at social housing sites. To learn more please contact bchc@bchealthycommunities.ca.

Source: BC Housing Information Update May 8, 2013, Vol.17; No.5; Ed.9

We’d love to feature your community in this section. Please contact us and tell us all about the activities that are happening in your community to help make it a safe and inclusive place.

THE CHAMPION

Hazel Currie – Community Builder

Hazel Currie is a shining example of how individuals, working together, often doing small things, can have a big impact on a community. She has lived in Victoria’s Gonzales neighbourhood for the past 10 years. In that time she has helped make subtle changes that have benefited the entire community including organizing events such as a block party complete with a tug-of-war and BBQ, and outdoor “neighbourhood playdates”, sometimes attracting up to 18 children to play street hockey, cycle or run around together. Hazel even organizes “group skipping” at the local elementary school, bringing kids and parents together and introducing them to some good old-fashioned fun and exercise.

As well as building the social fabric of the community, Hazel has helped make some physical changes: Pemberton Park now has a fence to help prevent little ones from darting out onto the busy road. The new Chandler-Gonzales pathway is well utilized by parents, students, dog-walkers, runners and cyclists.

Hazel has a background in communications and organizational work. She has also honed a reputation of being a friendly, approachable individual, who is not afraid to champion a good idea for the community. Currently, she is a full-time mom to two active young boys, and is able to volunteer with the Parent Advisory Council, work with the Committee to Re-open the Chandler-Gonzales Pathway, and bring individuals together to spark new friendships and a sense of community. Hazel shows that community-enhancing changes can happen by making an effort to connect with neighbours and being dogged in subtly championing a cause.

THE ARTICLE

Building Age-Friendly Communities in BC
By Krissi Spinoza

In 2011, seniors accounted for 15% of the population of BC; that figure is set to double by 2036 [1]. 7 of the 10 municipalities [2] with the highest proportion of seniors in British Columbia, therefore it is no surprise that BC local governments are working hard to make their communities age-friendly. An age-friendly community is one in which policies, services and infrastructure are designed to help seniors "age actively." In other words, the community is set up to help seniors live safely, enjoy good health and stay involved. For example, in an age-friendly community:

• sidewalks are well lit and kept in good shape;
• community gardens have accessible pathways and raised beds;
• seniors take part in community activities, such as visiting museums or libraries, taking courses or volunteering for charities or civic duties.

The Age-Friendly BC Recognition is an annual award presented to communities who have completed four steps in working towards an age-friendly community: passing a local government resolution, establishing an advisory committee, conducting an age-friendly assessment and develop and publishing an action plan – all with the leadership and involvement of local seniors. This year the award has been presented to eight communities; all of who received an age-friendly poster and $1,000 grant to complete a legacy project.

One of the communities recognized by the award is Creston. In 2011, 33% of the Town of Creston’s population was 65 years and older and the Town Council has a strong desire to ensure that older adults are active participants in all aspects of community life and municipal planning initiatives. To ensure that planning for the future of the community reflected the needs of seniors, the local government provided a range of age-friendly engagement opportunities, including workshops, roundtable discussions and focus groups as part of their Integrated Community Sustainability Planning process, which was being undertaken concurrently with the Age-Friendly Action Plan.

Seniors have been involved in making decisions about the location of additional benches for the community, and are currently participating in discussions regarding providing downtown public washrooms. Furthermore, Creston is working with specialized service providers to examine age-friendly transportation, and with the health authority to address the health needs of seniors. Many of these activities will benefit the whole community, as well as seniors in helping to fulfill Creston’s commitment to creating a community “where people of all ages, incomes and abilities feel connected, valued and safe”[3]. Streets that offer spaces for people to rest,  interact and celebrate with others benefit everyone in the community.

Creston is just one of the many communities working to ensure that the community is accessible to all. As Jodi Mucha, Executive Director of BC Healthy Communities, describes, “We are impressed with the level of enthusiasm and commitment that local governments around the province are showing toward age friendly communities. Planning for age friendly communities is a win-win for everyone – it helps the community be great for everyone.”

[1] Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2011.

[2] Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2011.

[3] Cultivating Creston: Integrated Community Sustainability Plan p.17.

Resources:
Integrated Community Sustainability Plan - Creston - February 28, 2013

EVENTS

Conference ~ Building SustainAble Communities

Where: Kelowna
When: November 25-28, 2013
What: This year's event features a half-day workshop hosted by BC Healthy Communities entitled Building Healthy Communities Through Multi-Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships. For info visit the conference website here

THE READ

Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Active Healthy Kids Canada recently presented the 2013 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. This year's Report Card focuses on the decline in active transportation and the implications of this issue on overall physical activity levels of children and youth.  

   

Read the full Report Card, including the assigned grades on 17 different indicators of how we measure up as nation with respect to childhood physical activity and see why this year we received a D- for physical activity levels.

Active Healthy Kids Canada strives to arm influential individuals and organizations with the most up-to-date evidence and information in order to support and advocate for physical activity for Canadian children and youth.